China’s economic problems can seem sudden and surprising. The real estate market is in a serious slump. Unemployment among young adults has surged above 20 percent — and the government has responded by suspending the release of that statistic. “The most terrifying thing is that everyone around me is at a loss of what to do next,” Richard Li, the owner of an auto parts business who has closed two of his four stores, told my colleague Li Yuan. My main argument is that China’s problems are not, in fact, new.

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Persons: ” Richard Li, Li Yuan, “, ”